The Edge
by MontanaOakley
Summary: He let out a nervous laugh, trying his hardest to hide what was breaking all over again beneath his chest. "Absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder...it rips it apart."
1. Fireworks

**I know I shouldn't be starting a new story but sometimes when I'm short ideas for my other stories, I have to write my separate ideas out so that I don't lose them. I'm not sure how long this story will be in total but I'm thinking that generally it won't be too long. Maybe ten chapters at the most, I'll just have to wait and see how it all works out. I do not own any of the characters from Disney's High School Musical. Review if you enjoyed it..or if you didn't. Critique me, please, it helps me become a stronger writer. I do not own Disney's characters or the lyrics to You Me At Six's "Fireworks."**

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><p>"<em>So this is the end of you and me. We had a good run, now I'm setting you free to do as you want, to do as you please…without me. Remember when you were my boat and I was your sea? Together we'd float so delicately. But that was back when we could talk about anything…"<em>

**JUNE 11, 2010  
>THE MONTEZ HOUSEHOLD,<br>ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO  
>8:00 PM<strong>

"I'm really just not feeling it, you know?" she sighed as she balanced both freshly washed dishes in one hand and her cell phone in the other. Trapping her phone between her shoulder and her ear, she awkwardly tried lifting her arms so that she could put away dishes into their rightful cabinet. This was a task that she normally did not mind but she was never one to be talented at multitasking.

"_I know_," came his response, disappointed but also understanding.

"So have fun without me, okay?" Her voice was soft and almost tired. "And I'll try to meet up with you guys some other time."

"_You sure?" _He asked, trying to sound nonchalant so that he wouldn't convey his true emotions; he desperately wanted her to be there. A party celebrating the end of the school year in which they spent together required her presence. Without her, he knew that it would turn into another boring get-together consisting of teenagers who have had one too many to drink while obnoxious music played, slowly but surely would destroy his eardrums.

"Positive," she answered, sharp and affirmative. "I'm not up for it tonight."

"_Damn…well you know I'm not going to be able to have a good time without you_."

She let out a long-winded sigh and took in his aloofness while he tried to sound as casual as he could. "Troy…" the terseness of his name on her tongue was enough to let him know that she was about to say something he would rather not hear. For months the two had played a dangerous game, crossing over the line and becoming a little more than just friends. However, they both agreed to end it if their feelings grew stronger for the other.

He cut her off so that he wouldn't have to hear anything she had to say. _"Don't 'Troy' me, Gab. Is it so bad that I want to spend time with you?"_

"Maybe…it is. You know what we agreed on, Troy," she paused as she chewed on her bottom lip, grateful that he could not see her as her lip trembled and her eyes glossed over with tears. "We agreed to end it whenever it became too much. It's becoming too much, isn't it?"

She knew the answer to her question when she was met by silence on the other end of the phone. Closing her eyes, she cursed inside her mind, knowing that it was all her doing. It was all coming to an end and it was her fault. "Troy?" She spoke his name when she figured that he had hung up, her voice cracking slightly.

"_Hmm_?" He distantly replied, leaving her to assume that he was already driving and on his way to the party.

"You know what this means, right?" She asked quietly. _What we had…it's over_, her mind supplied the answer for him.

He cleared his throat, his voice low with need. _"It was too much from the start, Gabriella. You knew that. You knew that it would come to this. I knew it, too. But I know that you feel what I feel. It's more, it always was. I…I can't talk about this right now,"_ his voice broke suddenly. _"You can call me when you figure it out. Until then, don't bother."_ The click on the other end initiated her next move as she tore the battery from her phone. Her feet carried her up to her room where she searched desperately for a hiding spot that she could eventually forget about. For just a moment, she wanted to be unreachable.

Minutes passed, turning into hours that Gabriella spent huddled in the corner of her bed, her knees pulled up tightly to her chest. She sat alone, knowing perfectly well that everything was her choice. She had initiated this feeling that made its home deep in her gut. She had chosen to walk down this path of complete isolation.

She wasn't sure when it had began-that was pushing people away from her as if they were infected with a contagious disease. Maybe she had picked up the habit at a young age that was too far back to remember. All Gabriella knew was that the feeling of loneliness was not going anywhere. It marked her just as a scar would- a permanent reminder of her biggest fear that had become her reality. She was entirely on her own in this world and forever she would be misunderstood by the one person she wished would know every last detail about it was all because she was a coward. Like a leader backing down right before the most epic of battles in which her side was outnumbered. She could not face the emotions that she kept hidden underneath the surface of beautifully sun-kissed skin that was only a small contribution that led people to view her as perfection.

A wave of nerves embraced her entirely, her fingertips becoming a scorching fire. Her hands were trying to resist their constant shaking but had no success in doing so.

It didn't take long for her to realize that she had fallen once more. She fell for him each day and it drove her to the brink of insanity. He was her mind, her thoughts, and her heart. He was everywhere, something that she would never escape.

After having difficulty swallowing, she was forced to take note of how dry her throat had unknowingly become. She was not certain of when it had begun to hurt, feeling as if it was lined with coarse sandpaper. Her gaze faltered when her heavy amber eyes drifted back to the dimly lit corner of her bedroom, with little awareness of what she was searching for. Without a single intention, she began to pace back and forth as the anxiety built up inside of her like an unsteady wall that was ready to give way at any given time.

Her mind was a game of "Jenga" and with every pull or push she was coming closer to falling apart. Her heart and mind continued to scream insanities that could not be drowned out by the white noise that enclosed her in the empty bedroom. The walls were closing in- bare and dull, only making her notice that this had to be a cage; her own personal prison. Gabriella's fingers worked to claw at the loose knob of her stereo system. But the music did not have its desired effect- the noises prevailed, like crashing waves continuing to storm the shore even on the calmest of nights.

Brown eyes became transfixed on a bare white wall in an unbreakable stare. "I'm so sorry," She muttered to no one in particular before repeating the phrase until she was unable to comprehend if she was truly speaking or if it was mindless babbling that could only be heard in her troubled head. Finally, her hands sought out the battery where she had hidden it underneath her pillow earlier that evening, smuggling it from the dangers brought on by her words. With shaking fingers, she pushed the battery back into place in her cell phone, watching as it came to life once again. "I'm sorry."

She cursed herself in her mind, knowing that she had never wanted things to turn out this way. She had tried everything to prevent this from happening.

_If you did not want this, you would have deleted the contact from your phone and burnt every last letter. _Her mind fought to remind her even though she knew that deleting the contact would serve no significance. She had every last part of him memorized, including the ten digits that if dialed, led her to hear the voice that she considered to be her salvation. Her eyes lingered on the highlighted name in the address book of her phone.

And as for the notes...she could not have gotten rid of them even if she had tried. It seemed like she received a new one from him each day. She'd find them in the most random of places; stuffed into her backpack, waiting on her desk in homeroom, or somehow slipped into the back pocket of her denim jeans. They had become a part of her, the crumbled papers with his scribbled penmanship serving as an unspoken lullaby for her on the darkest of nights.

Finally, the voice inside her head became soft, almost as if to be understanding.

_You knew that this would happen. It's meant to be this way._

She nodded, complying to her mind before the dial tone shattered the remains of the promise that she had made to herself. At once the voices in her head ceased, her heart stopped beating; he had answered on the other line. The steady silence, just knowing he was there and prepared to listen, put her at ease. When she knew she could not speak, she knew she had made a mistake by calling him. Gabriella's breathing had grown shallow as the two teenagers remained completely in silence, disconnected from the rest of the world. Neither spoke the words that they so badly ached to say.

There was the sound of his breath catching in his throat as if he were about to speak but suddenly stopped himself. She endured the long pause, biting on her bottom lip to stop its constant trembling as her vision became foggy.

His words were rushed and almost unrecognizable. "I'll be right there."

_And she knew she had fallen again_.

Never in his life had he sprung out of his bed so quickly. After spending a few hours at the party, he became bored, his mind focused on one thing only. His thoughts consisted of her face and he left as soon as he realized that he wouldn't be able to enjoy himself with the feeling of emptiness that had settled in his gut. In the matter of seconds, he had pulled a dirty t-shirt over his head and a pair of jeans he had discarded earlier on the floor. It was late; two o'clock in the morning and two hours past his curfew. But none of that mattered, if she needed him, there was no one that could stop him from getting to her. He crept through his entire house until he reached his back door, slipping outside into the warm night soundlessly. The only noise he could hear besides the light crunch of his shoes in the gravel driveway was the chirping of the crickets that sounded every summer night.

He picked up his pace, trying not to seem all too desperate by sprinting to her house that was only a few houses down the street. Arriving within five minutes that the phone call had occurred, Troy stalled once her house came into view. His eyes took in the dark house, the only light coming from the television on the first floor, blue lights occasionally illuminating the walls.

He didn't bother knocking, there wasn't any need for it and in the matter of seconds he was standing in the entrance of her open bedroom door. There were no words exchanged between the two teenagers as their worlds fell together, like missing puzzle pieces. The second their eyes met, the same undeniable force resurfaced- the same force that scared Gabriella to death. She daringly stepped forward to instigate the first move.

"You don't have to say anything," He reassured her with his words and the pleading that was found in the deep blues of his eyes.

She opened her mouth in an attempt to formulate some kind of sentence but was quickly silenced as he strode forward, closing the distance between them before pressing his lips to hers. His hand was tangled in the long locks of her hair instantly, his other clasping her waist, wanting nothing more than to be close to her. With that, all the words left her, simply escaping her mind, leaving her only with his earth-shattering kiss. His lips worked to melt away her pain and worries, even though the voices in her head were shouting reminders that soon he would leave her and she would be alone again.

But for the time she had, she wanted to just be.

"Gabriella, I lo-"

She effectively ended what he was about to say by quickly pressing her lips to his, pretending as if the words had never been spoken. But when he spoke, his voice was so low and filled with such want that she would have fallen over if it weren't for his hands keeping her steady. Those stunning blue eyes were showing her that she was in fact the only person he would ever desire. She knew that he was the only one who would ever call her by her full name- the only person she would ever want to hear do so.

"I don't have to say it for you to know that it's the truth."

With that, he swept her curls from her neck to find his mark that he had previously left there. As he pressed his mouth to the familiar spot, Gabriella could feel his smile against her skin. The small mark was not noticeable to anyone else but them. It was almost as if it served as some form of a secret, a bond they shared and a hold that only he had on her.

The touch of his fingers tracing patterns on her upper arms caused heat to creep from her heart to her chest and then straight up to her neck. Gabriella felt her senses heightening and there was no denying that she knew exactly what was about to take place in the shambled mess that was her bedroom.

As she looked into those eyes that served as portals to his soul, she knew what he wanted- what he needed. Slowly and carefully, as if he thought his very touch would break her, Troy leaned forward, gently brushing his lips against her exposed shoulder blade. Her breath got caught in the desert that had become her throat just from receiving one look from his baby was like someone had physically knocked the wind out of her. The sudden need for air was a painful twisting in her gut. Troy Bolton would surely be the death of her. There wasn't a single ounce of her that cared even the slightest bit.

His eyes took her in, admiring her as if she was the most fragile being in his world. And he believed that she was, even if Gabriella was not aware of how much he cared. Troy knew he would give his life for her without a second thought. He wouldn't have it any other way.

Troy's hand found her cheek, his eyes holding the focus of her own as his mouth discovered the skin beneath her ear. "I love you, ok?" Troy whispered against the smoothness of her skin, his voice pleading as if he wanted nothing more than to convince her of the sincerity of his words. The phrase would never tire him, it could not be said enough. "No one will ever love you the way that I love you."

She swallowed, trying to sooth her throat as her cheeks went aflame with a shade of red. Gabriella was scared to death. Maybe it was because his words held nothing but the truth...or maybe it was because she knew that he was the only person who could ever get this close. The only person who could ever have her whole heart.

Wearing only her short pajama bottoms and a loose t-shirt a couple sizes too large that hung off her shoulders, Troy had the ability to make her feel like she was the most beautiful girl in the entire world. And to him, she was. She was everything that he found himself craving...over and over again. At night when his mind drifted and prevented him from sleeping, Gabriella was the only person that he saw.

His hand fell back to her waist, slipping underneath the hem of her shirt only to rest on the warm skin that he found there. Troy coaxed her to relax with his eyes as her knees hit the edge of her bed. Shifting his body, Troy followed her lead, his gaze traveling over her body that lay before him. Slowly, Troy began to undress her, letting his hands linger on every inch of skin, letting the sight before him be committed to memory.

With a small clearing of his throat, Gabriella could tell that he was pleased to learn that she was lacking any article of clothing underneath her pajamas. Troy hovered over her form as Gabriella's arms wrapped around his lower back, caressing his firm muscles as she tugged his t-shirt over his head, discarding it shortly after. Eagerly, Troy began to work at the zipper of his jeans, feeling as though he was only wasting time. Any moment now, he was expecting her to change her mind and it would come to a quick end. He was taking it all while the time lasted.

Troy's lips reattached to their spot on the base of her neck as Gabriella's hand traveled to the short strands of hair on his scalp, her fingers threading through. "Please," she croaked, the first word she had spoken since the phone call. The desperation in her voice conveyed that she needed to be with him in every way had to prove to herself that he was worth it. And with that, he broke the barriers between them, burying himself inside of her slowly as his eyes remained on hers for a sign of discomfort or regret before he carried on. But he could barely comprehend what was happening anymore. Troy had slipped into euphoria the moment she had allowed him to take her. He had only dreamed of this moment since he had hit puberty; she was every guy's fantasy and finally she was his reality.

Troy no longer had any form of control as his hands pried hers from his neck, his fingers tangling furiously with hers instead. He squeezed her hands, pinning them down on the pillow space above her head as he felt her inner walls tightening around him. The speed of Troy's thrusts increased as his vision became blurrier, trying to focus on the face of the girl under him in the horribly lit room.

"Troy..." She mewed, the tone of her voice nearly sending him over, pushing him to the edge.

"You are mine," he panted. His normal voice had become husky with desire, his eyes snapping to a close as he released what he was trying to hold back. His movements became slower while he tried to cherish the time that he had with her, attempting to memorize every detail about her. His eyes had drifted closed as he barely managed to keep his exhausted body from crushing her form. Seconds passed, extending for what felt like hours as she didn't make a single sound. "Baby," Troy said, his voice almost a whisper, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

His eyes snapped open suddenly in realization. Why was she trembling? His face contorted with confusion as he removed his length from her warmth, knowing that he would never be able to live with himself if he hurt her. Troy wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace, refusing to let go until she settled. He felt something wet against his bare shoulder but understood very well that she hated when people saw her cry. So he looked everywhere but in her direction. He had been staring at a spot on her ceiling for an eternity until the trembling began to subside. Only then did he let his thumb brush away any stray tears. His eyes scanned the features of her face, finding her perfection breathtaking. Gabriella's eyelids twitched as she slept soundly, leaving Troy to wonder what could possibly be taking place in her mind. What kind of things did she dream about? What was she thinking about during her last few conscious seconds?

Jerking his head to the left where her nightstand was, he squinted to read the glowing red numbers on the alarm clock. It was nearly four in the morning. He had to work in less than three hours. Troy leaned forward, resting his chin lightly on Gabriella's shoulder, tenderly leaving a kiss on the junction of skin between her shoulder and neck. Even with the knowledge that in the morning he would be completely screwed, Troy felt a smile fight its way on to his face as he drifted into a comfortable sleep, feeling nothing less than the luckiest man in the world.

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><p><strong>SEPTEMBER 20, 2010<strong>  
><strong>EAST HIGH SCHOOL, <strong>  
><strong>ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO <strong>  
><strong>8:00 AM <strong>

As he sat silently with his gaze fixed beyond the dashboard, staring at absolute nothingness- Troy knew that he had fallen once more. He would spend days, days in which he would be the happiest person that anyone could ever have known. No one would even question that he was sincerely torn up inside. But then there were other days, the ones that completely made the others irrelevant- days like the one he was currently trapped in. It was days like this that reminded people of why he was not the same Troy Bolton whose smile used to possess the power to brighten up any room. His personality used to be able to project the happiness he was feeling and even if only for a little while, he could make the moods of other people progress significantly. When everything first happened, there was no doubting how badly it had affected Troy. Occasionally, he would zone out when people attempted to carry a conversation with him. He would stare as if he were looking through them...because he was. Never was he able to stop himself for looking for more. It seemed to him, at any moment she would reappear again. She would come back, crashing into his life as if she had never left. He could dream.

He had began to take notice of how quickly a summer really passed by; each day seamlessly running together until dates are forgotten. Days of the week became easily confused since each day became the same as the last. The same routine played out until nightfall began to come fast, darkness sweeping over with a chill. Intense heat is was replaced with the coolness of fall and following after, the trees would soon become. An even colder wind would whip the dried and crumbling leaves on the ground where snow would soon lay. And time passed until it meant nothing.

Three months. Over a thousand of hours and over a hundred thousand minutes. Millions of seconds- seconds that Troy had become numb to as they continuously ticked by. Time had lost all of its meaning. Clocks that decorated the walls wherever he went were nothing but a waste of materials and space.

There was nothing he would not give to see the familiar face that at one time in his life, had given him a reason for waking up each miserable morning. Never before had he realized how Gabriella was the one who kept him in check. She had been the reason that he had fallen asleep countless nights with the same cheesy smile on his face, excited for the next day. She had always surprised him, every part of her. When they were only five years old, her bravery when it came to jumping off the swingset had surprised him. Growing up, her relaxed attitude and how she was far less dramatic than any other girl he knew had surprised him. When they had entered their sophomore year of high school, Troy had never expected to fall in love with her.

Every memory of his childhood somehow involved her. Sometimes he would try to think of anything that did not include her just to prove to himself that he had lived without her before so it was possible for him to do it again. But she had always been there. She had been the only girl who chose to hang around with his group of friends that lived in their neighborhood. The group of boys had easily accepted her as being one of them at the young age of five when nothing really mattered and there was not a single care in their world. Years passed and soon the differences could no longer be ignored. Games of hide and seek turned into competitive basketball. And when that soft-spoken girl with frizzy and tangled curls grew up; Troy was not the only person to take notice. From there, he found himself fighting to spend more time with her in any way that he could. Gabriella had easily stolen his heart and that would never cease to surprise him.

As far back as Troy could remember, she had been throwing curve-balls in his direction. But nothing could compare to the astonishment that had racked him when she had disappeared without a single word. Millions of seconds had passed by without a trace of her in his life. She was gone.

He pulled his old and beaten-up truck into the parking lot of East High that had been overtaken by an unusual, eerie silence. Normally, the lot was buzzing with students arriving or being dropped off at the building but there was something about that morning that was incredibly different. Troy could not put his finger on what was obscure, though. As he climbed out of his truck, he chose to literally put his best foot forward. He tried not to take notice that whenever his eyes connected with those of another arrival, the other person would quickly divert their stare as if just one glance of those blue eyes could potentially set their soul on fire. _Maybe...I'm crazy_, he thought to himself as he trudged lethargically through the main entrance of the school. Troy wanted to believe that it was simply his paranoia getting the best of him. He wanted to believe that the harsh stares and muffled whispers were not aimed towards him. He wanted to...but he couldn't.

Busying himself with the twisting of his nimble fingers on the combination of his locker, Troy could not block out the conversation taking place only a few short yards away. He steadied himself by bracing his rough hand against the cold metal, his eyes becoming a shade deeper before he momentarily closed them tight. No matter how hard he attempted, he could not keep out the whispers and murmurs that surrounded him. With every false rumor that hung in the air, Troy's throat only constricted tighter with each passing minute. Whenever he thought that people were done speaking of the past, her name would be whispered in a deserted hallway or somewhere nearby. Without any warning, he would feel bare allover again, exposed to the rest of the school at his most vulnerable state; he was alone. Troy wished that he would not be reminded of her nearly every day of his life. Whenever he was back on track, finally making progress after pushing her to the back of his mind, her name would roll off of someone's tongue. Or something would remind him of the times they had shared together. Immediately a rush of emotions and feelings would resurface, so intense and strong Troy wondered how he kept himself from falling to his knees.

She was _everywhere_. Forever, she would haunt him. And it drove him crazy, cutting deep down to his very core.

"I heard her parents couldn't handle her anymore. They had enough of her crazy shit and shipped her off to some mental institution."

"Really? I heard she overdosed..."

"Probably both, she's a basket-case."

Troy was edging closer to a dead-end, a place where he would finally lose control and let his guard down; showing a side that he had worked the last couple of months to keep hidden. He hated the pettiness that filled all of East High, fighting his hardest to ignore the conversation between two girls that were stationed only a few lockers down from his own. He did not believe anything that he heard. Troy had half the sense to shout at them, tell them to stop running their mouths when they truly did not have the slightest clue of what they were talking about. For one, he knew that Gabriella's father was no longer in her life and her mother simply didn't care enough to take notice in her daughter, let alone send her to some kind of mental institution.

Slamming his locker shut harder than he had intended, the loud clatter of metal hitting metal caused the two girls to temporarily pause mid-conversation. He opened his mouth to retort but his mouth hung ajar and speechless. Troy shook his head with a low sigh, figuring that no one was worth his time and he did not need to prove Gabriella's sanity. He could not even do such a thing since he had never been told where she was, where she was going or when she was leaving. Without a trace, a text, a letter, a phone call...the girl who his world revolved around disappeared.

"Maybe someone should let him know the name that institution." They shared a short-lived, exaggerated laugh.

"No wonder she wanted nothing to do with him."

For some, a summer felt like a short time, each day passing by as fast as the next. But for Troy, every day felt the same as the day he discovered she was gone. Every day the emotions were raw and fresh. The wounds were still there. Time meant nothing...but at the same time it meant everything. Time was all he had to hold on to, all he had to remind him of her, each passing day, a calendar building up in his mind. _She's not coming back_.

"Hey Troy!" The frazzled blonde called out to him from further down the crowded hallway while juggling her multiple books in one hand and a pink tote bag hanging upside down in the other. Since the start of the new school year, she would usually walk with him every day to the homeroom that they shared. Before Gabriella had disappeared, Troy had never gotten along well with the girl who he had once referred to as the "blonde bitch." Now, he could not imagine tolerating an entire day without his good friend, Sharpay Evans.

He would have inflicted harm upon himself a few years prior, if he had found out that he and Sharpay had something in common. Growing up, Troy had never liked her. Her voice had made him constantly want to put his head through a wall while he was stuck sharing a class with her in middle school. From there, he had to learn to tolerate her even more when she had started to date Chad Danforth. There would not be at least one day in the week where he did not have to hear her name brought up in a conversation. It was sophomore year when Sharpay had worked her way further into Troy's group of friends by befriending Gabriella. They were close for a while; nothing short of sisters. Before all of this, Troy would have scoffed if someone were to tell him that he had commonalities with Sharpay Evans. But now it was easily acknowledgeable as it hung there in the air, an unspoken understanding between the two teenagers.

Sharpay was outspoken, dramatic with each flip of her vibrant blonde hair, and a talented member of the theater department of East High. She found herself a friendlier person when things ran smoothly, mostly to her benefit but if she was crossed, she would become someone that even she despised. She had put that person away though, the week that her boyfriend since the eighth grade had left her life without a single word, as if she meant nothing to him. Consistently, Sharpay tried to convince Troy that there were no such thing as coincidences…

_"Wherever Gabriella is, Chad is with her_," the blonde's words played again like a song stuck on repeat inside of his head.

Though Troy did not question that Chad would stab his back in this way, he knew that Gabriella never would even consider going anywhere with Chad, especially leaving town with him. With each passing day, Troy kept that thought suppressed, building up excuses and logical explanations inside of his head that supported what he believed to be the fact- Gabriella was not in Albuquerque, but she was nowhere near Chad Danforth either. Troy would force himself to remember all the disgusted looks that had crossed Gabriella's face when Chad had not so subtly hit on her. She was repulsed by Chad. _She loved me_, Troy would shout in his mind. _She loves me_. Despite all of the trouble Troy went through to convince himself, he still could not help but assume that the two were off together, living in Mexico after having eloped and now were planning on having a family of four; them plus two babies, twins.

The blonde who was now approaching him had fixed her stance, now looking calm and collected after she shoved her books into her bag that matched the outfit she had worn that day. Most students at the high school did not know the real, genuine person that Sharpay kept masked and hidden and most would never get the chance to. And for this, Troy considered himself lucky.

His greeting came as a slight nod of his head, the longer strands of hair falling over his eyes.

Sharpay shook her head disapprovingly, reaching a hand to brush the hair away from his forehead, briefly running her thin fingers through his disheveled hair. "Someone needs a haircut."

"Someone doesn't care," He said with a shrug as his head turned towards his right, noticing more people staring at him as if he were some kind of exhibit at the zoo. He opted to believe that it was his paranoia, once again. Troy was not easily convinced.

"Don't let them get inside of your head, Troy boy," Sharpay offered the advice with a sigh, conveying her hypocrisy since everyone had already began their invasion in her own thoughts. The new school year brought on new interrogations from the curious students of East High. Everyone expected Troy and Sharpay to answer their questions when really they knew just as much as any random student that passed by in the hall.

Groaning with frustration, Troy tiredly rubbed at his forehead, only to cause the pushed back hair to fall back, misplaced. Feeling like a small child, unable to focus, Troy's eyes scanned over the sea of people that filled up the hallway. Most stood around casually, emerged in conversation while looking over at him every so often, making him feel like there was a sign plastered on his face, one that could not be deciphered. No one seemed too concerned with getting to homeroom on time, but after all...this was high school. Troy knew that the people, the ones who insisted on staring, were the same people who only came for the social status. Sharpay was ranting on about something that was incoherent to him at the current moment while he remained trapped in the world of his thoughts, but yet she still kept talking. And people kept staring. Time kept ticking away. Days kept passing.

Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, Troy caught sight of the bouncing of dark ebony curls that hung low off of olive shoulders. Everything around him had become a blur, like a snapshot taken out of focus but none of that mattered to him. He tried to move but his feet remained cemented to the floor, almost as if they were trying to warn his brain and his wildly thumping heart that this was not real. He had to be dreaming or hallucinating. She was gone...

He craned his neck to follow the movements of the familiar head of hair, only to see the girl get tapped on the shoulder and then turn around. Like a deflating balloon, Troy felt the last bit of hope that he had harbored inside of him, leave with his latest exhale. Eventually, he knew that he would have to let go. Troy told himself that eventually, he would not care and she would be nothing but a memory. But then again, most words, just like _eventually_, had lost all meaning to him. If getting over Gabriella was like existing in heaven or hell, Troy was stuck in purgatory.

"Reality check, Bolton," the blonde's voice drifted back under his radar as his gaze finally returned to meet her own. "You look like you've seen a ghost or something."

He might as well have.

* * *

><p><strong>SEPTEMBER 20, 2010<br>OAKLEY DRIVE,  
>ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO<br>4:00 PM **

The streets seemed emptier. If he were to really put things into perspective, the whole town felt emptier. Kicking at some dried leaves that had detached themselves from the nearest tree, Troy keep his head down, trained to the sidewalk. He watched as the leaves were forced to move forward as his scuffed sneakers scraped the rough surface of the ground, stopping only when he felt and indentation in the ground with the tip of his shoe. He bent over while he ignored the chilly end-of-the-summer winds lifting his hair in every direction. His fingers cautiously inched lower to the carving that had been left like a permanent scar into the sidewalk, allowing his fingers to finally trace over the lettering. Forever their initials would lay there, side-by-side like nothing had ever changed. Without even hesitating, Troy lapsed into a moment of stupidity as he viciously rubbed at the "GM" with his knuckles, thinking that it was disappear. Instead he was left with a damaged hand; cut badly and scraped by the coarse cement of the sidewalk.

_What am I doing?_ His mind shouted at him as he caught himself barely holding on to the edge of sanity. He could not grasp what had went wrong; when had he let one girl become the totalitarian dictator of his life? His eyes betrayed him, as they glanced at the lateral view of the empty house that was just across the street. There was nothing special or extraordinary about it. The white two story house had shutters that were almost a dark teal color. All of the windows were shut completely, which was an odd sight to see especially in the nice, beginning-of-fall weather. Not a single light illuminated the house in any way and that was the part that left the feeling that someone had slugged him in the stomach.

There used to be one solitary light that had always been left on. The one window, furthest on the right side belonged to her. He never understood her irrational fear of the dark, but did not argue since the light was a signal that he had used to know that she was home. Just a dim light was all he needed for his reassurance.

Troy stared, his gaze so penetrating that his blue eyes looked at though they could burn a hole at the impact point- the window on the second floor of the house. Sometimes, if he stared long enough, his eyes would begin playing tricks on him, the dimness returning to light up the walls of the bedroom that he knew all too well, even for the shortest of seconds. But his mind would correct himself, the light would not turn back on. He felt as though someone had smashed that very lamp that usually sat in the corner of her bedroom over his head at that very moment. He was not sure what this foreign feeling was that had just come crashing into him like a tidal wave. _Acceptance_.

_She couldn't have loved you. No matter what you thought, what you forced yourself to believe, she did not love you. It was not the same for her as it was for you. If it was, there would have been an unspoken understanding. She would have never left. You would be together now. You'd be happy. You could never make her happy. There's something about her that no one quite understands, something you told yourself only you understood. But you were never special. You were no different from the rest. You were a friend. Nothing more than a neighborhood kid she had grown up with. It's over. It's done. Let it go._

His mind bombarded him with the turmoil he had kept locked away but now it was if suddenly the door had been abruptly opened, all of the truths spilling out endlessly.

_So maybe I won't wake up when day and think to myself, "I'm over her." Maybe I'll have to work at it. And maybe a part of me will always be in love with her. Maybe this is the beginning of the end. One day at a time._

Once again, Troy had found himself at a crossroad. There was times in his life that he could pinpoint an exact change, such a substantial moment that he knew he would never be able to forget. The letter written in smudged ink was burning a hole into is pocket, weighing him down like an anchor to a ship. With his backpack slung over his shoulder, Troy walked quickly towards the vacant house only stopping once his hand found the cold doorknob. From where he stood, he could see piles upon piles of unread letters specifically addressed to Gabriella in his penmanship. He never used the mailbox since the first day she left, having thought she was simply inside and refusing to come out. His tired fists had pounded the thick door but that was all in the past.

He used his free hand to unzip his backpack, dropping it lightly to the ground afterward. Falling to his knees, the open screen door rested against his back. His shaking but determined hands reached in front of him, scooping up as many letters as he could but the amount was overwhelming. He stuffed them furiously into his backpack, not even once glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone had been watching. Shoving them far into the depths of the bag, Troy had not even noticed how strong his grip on the papers had become, his face red as he bit down on his lower lip.

All traces of Troy caring for her absence disappeared as every last letter he had written became buried away, never to be known to Gabriella. They remained as written secrets; Troy being the only person who would ever know of their existence. Over a hundred letters, and he was the only person to read the haunting words of a broken heart.

* * *

><p><strong>SEPTEMBER 20, 2010<br>THE BOLTON HOUSEHOLD,  
>ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO<br>6:30 PM**

"Don't get my new bra dirty," she gasped as her palms spread out on his strong shoulders. He rolled his eyes lightheartedly before unhooking the pink lace bra with care. "What is that all over your hands, anyway?" She asked, referring to his soot-covered hands, knowing that Troy didn't mind her constant blabbering whenever they fooled around. Peeling his lips from the base of her neck, his eyes connected with hers.

"My dad and I cleared out the backyard of leaves, burnt them in the firepit."

His answer was short and convincing and was enough of a satisfying answer to the blonde who then took control of the situation. She straddled his lap with a coy smile displayed on her swollen lips, always feeling a sense of power whenever he touched her or kissed her, his lips a blazing inferno. Ignoring the distant look in his eyes, Sharpay allowed her hips to roll back, grinding against Troy's boxer-clad pelvis. She was still half-dressed, her skirt bunched around her waist as Troy made no action to remove the article of clothing.

Cradling his face in her hands, she pressed her forehead to his and sighed as her hazel eyes met dark blue. "What's wrong, Troy?"

"I just don't feel right, today. Like I'm not in one piece," he responded, finding it easy to talk to her since they had grown closer over the summer. She was his closest friend and he was hers; both with one thing in common- they had been betrayed by the ones they loved most.

"It's going to get better…I promise," she spoke surely, her hand snaking its way into his boxers to prove her point. Her hand wrapped around him, only to cause her eyes to snap up to meet his once more. "Why…are you…?"

Troy swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, trying to shake the image of embers from his mind but all he could see when he closed his eyes was the sight of his letters burning. "I uh…hold on," he stammered as his palm fondled one of her small breasts, his thumb flicking leisurely at her pert nipple while she continued to stroke his length, hoping to stir up a reaction. Kissing down his perfectly sculpted chest, Sharpay tugged at his boxers until his semi-hard member was in her vision, her intent written in her eyes as she quickly glanced up at him.

He felt awkward and dirty, flashing images of dark brown curls splayed on the pillow of an unmade bed cluttering his mind. The way her teeth sunk into her bottom lip as she smiled, the way she tugged his t-shirts over her head until they fell midway down her tan thighs. There they were, on his bed, his fingers digging into her sides unmercifully as the harmony of her laughter carried through the room. As she leaned over, her hair would cascade down, framing her face and brushing against his bare chest.

Troy attempted to clear his throat and focus on the girl whose lips were slowly coaxing his member into her mouth as her hand played with his balls. "_Troy_." He heard his name the way she had said it that night when he finally claimed her as his. Her hands seared his back, branding him with a feeling he would never have again.

"Fuck," Troy gasped and Sharpay took it as encouragement to continue her minstrations. And then he felt it in his gut, a stirring sensation as his eyes widened. He leaped from his bed, barely giving Sharpay the chance to release him before he darted for the bathroom, his form curling over the toilet until he emptied the contents of his stomach.

"Well…_fuck_," he repeated himself as his arms fell limply by his sides. How long was it going to take before he stopped feeling like a little school girl who had witnessed her longtime crush push someone else on the playground during recess? He was exhausted, mentally and physically, and tired of feeling hung up on someone when he didn't even know if he ever crossed her mind.

"Troy…I'm going to head home." Sharpay said softly from the other side of the door, not wanting to see him when he left the bathroom to avoid embarrassment for both herself and Troy. "I hope you feel better."

He grunted in response, having nothing else to say as he let his eyes drift to a close. "This is bullshit, Gabriella," he cursed angrily, and wished that she was actually there to argue back.

* * *

><p><strong>SEPTEMBER 20, 2010<br>VENICE BEACH CALIFORNIA  
>7:00 PM<br>**  
>Bare.<p>

She felt as though she couldn't be covered enough as she pulled at ends of her gray cardigan but no matter how hard she tugged, the shiver that crawled across her skin was permanent. Her hair danced with the wind, the ocean air loosening her dark curls that fell anywhere but perfectly in place. She bit at her lip to cease its trembling but found herself unsuccessful as her eyes glossed over with what she had been holding back. Forcing her eyes shut, she scrunched her face, attempting with all that she could to prevent the tears from falling. A gust of wind was all it took for a lone tear to shed that soon multiplied until sobs racked through her body, causing her to double over. She wished that she could become numb to the guilt that twisted her insides until she felt physically sick.

The worn wood of the old dock scrapped at her bare knees but all the pain she felt was entirely internal as her palms sought out to grip something, anything that could lead her to stability. _Get a hold of yourself_, her mind shouted its protest and she nodded as if to answer the voices in her head, though they always failed her. Unaware of her actions, she lifted herself from her crawling position on the dock, removing herself from the waters edge for her own safety. Her deep brown eyes scanned over the abandoned beach while her feet kicked at every stone they came in contact with.

Home.

It was a word that she had learned in kindergarten over twelve years ago. She remembered vividly what words her estranged teacher had used to describe it. _"It's the where you and your family live. It's where you feel cozy and comfortable; where you are the happiest person you could be." _She scoffed as she looked out at the horizon, her head shaking in disagreement to what the wiry redheaded teacher had once spoken with such conviction.

The meaning of family was only clear to her for a certain period of time, back when she was young and naïve. Back when she was the _happiest person she could be_. She remembered her life as a spiral staircase, starting at the top but transforming into a quick descent downward. And some time on the way down, the word home had lost all meaning.

Her fingers nimbly held on to a smooth stone that she had picked up along her walk, tracing over its surface in a soothing manner while her mind raced.

Home.

She hated that she missed it as much as she did but it wasn't because she missed the family aspect of her previous life. A part of her always yearned for her father but he occupied a private space in her heart, and though he was not around, she felt a deeper connection to him than she would ever feel with her mother. Refusing to admit the real reason why Albuquerque felt like home, Gabriella hurled the stone with all of her strength into the crashing waves of the deep blue sea. She allowed the water to encircle her ankles, the salt invigorating her skin.

Closing her eyes tight once more, she diverted her attention from the rage of the ocean, finding its colors almost too much to bear. There deep blue that stretched on for miles in every direction and the setting sun reflecting the most beautiful shades of orange and pink onto its surface. But in the sight of the ocean and the setting sun, all she could see was him. He was everywhere, all the time, haunting her although his presence lacked. After all the time that passed, Gabriella couldn't fathom how it was possible that not only did the feelings not go away, they felt fresh and brand new with each day. They grew stronger, a force that would never be reckoned with.

But she left. And now she presumed that she meant nothing to him, just a name that was mentioned in heated conversations of disgust and hate. And as chilly water alerted all of her senses, she knew what she needed to feel whole again.

The sand had worked to hide the noise of approaching footsteps but Gabriella was never startled as two obtrusive arms crossed over her rigid chest, entrapping her uncomfortably. The two teenage stood like empty buildings and even the dull-minded Chad Danforth had to have sensed the awkward tension that hung around them as clouds. His grip loosened, his chin falling on to her shoulder as he attempted to somehow understand the inner workings of her. She was a mystery, a challenge. That was the very reason why he had taken this expedition. Now in a small seaside town where his face was not automatically recognized, he felt slight a dent to his ego. But he would never admit that he missed the chanting of his name in the halls of East High.

"I was wondering what you had in mind for sleeping tonight?" He asked her in a hushed tone almost as if he believed if he spoke any louder he would cause her to snap. But her calm demeanor never faltered. To even her own surprise, she had managed to remain almost mute, masking the turmoil inside her head.

She shrugged carelessly. She was exhausted to the point where she thought that if she would simply take a seat in the soft sand, she'd fall asleep right then and there.

Chad's grip on her loosened as he turned her in his arms for direct contact, his eyes situation with a nervous chuckle. "We're practically out of cash."

Numerous motel rooms had wasted away at the account her mother had set up for her for emergencies only. It funded a trip for two to California, where she and Chad spent their days on the beach, eating cheap pizza and drinking cheap booze. Some nights they'd camped on the beaches while others were spent cuddling close in her car for warmth.

"Oh."

"Oh?" Chad questioned her unconcerned tone. He wasn't sure if he still wanted what she wanted. The trip had originally been her idea but he jumped at the invitation and now all he craved was a home cooked meal. He knew that if he didn't return home soon, he would blow every opportunity of receiving a basketball scholarship and he still wanted to graduate and though he wouldn't admit it out loud, he missed school. Getting wasted on California beaches had appealed to him at one point but now he missed the comfort of his bed, his television set, and pretending to watch ESPN late at night while really keeping "skinemax" channels on a low volume.

He sighed when she remained silent. "Don't get mad, ok?" He requested and then exhaled. "…But maybe we should consider using what we have left to get back home."

There was that word again. Gabriella turned away from him, biting her lip as she forced her eyes shut but this time, in deep thought. When she finally reopened her eyes that were once again glazing over with tears that were fighting to pour over her cheeks, she was met by sight of the crashing blue waves. And she knew what she needed.

"Alright." She agreed, leaving an incredulous look on Chad's face since he believed that convincing her to go home was going to require a lot more persuasion.

"Do you think that uh, you're ready to..?" He asked awkwardly, unsure if he had chosen the right words.

Her stare was vacant and unreadable, as her gaze never broke from the sea. "As ready as I'll ever be," she whispered.

_"So it's true what they say if you love someone you should set them free..."_


	2. Points Underneath

**Thanks so much for trying to get through this, I understand that it's a bit confusing and difficult to keep up with. I only plan on writing the beginning this way (going from the present to past or vise versa). This is just so you get an idea of what lead up to Gabriella leaving. The next chapter will be focused only on the present since I got most of the explaining out of the way. There will of course be some mentioning of the past but it won't be anywhere near as confusing as it is now. Thanks for the reviews! I don't own Disney's HSM or The Honorary Title's "Points Underneath"**

* * *

><p><em>" I am cold and shivering without you near. I have begged and I have borrowed, from my friends, who once admired. Now they all have lost respect for me." <em>

**JUNE 12, 2010  
><strong>**ANNIE'S DINER,  
><strong>**ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO  
><strong>**1:15 PM**

"What happened?" The boy who had hair that was much larger than his heart asked. His motives were unclear to Troy who continued to eye him skeptically from behind the counter.

Chad Danforth's personality consisted of many traits. He was a known troublemaker, the mischievous glint in his chestnut eyes serving as a warning that he was clearly up to no good. He was conniving; ruthless, not caring if anyone knew this about him. Chad figured that where he was going in life was entirely up to him. His decisions. His way. There were no other choices. He would always go for what he wanted. He would always follow through and act on his desires. If people asked him why, he would answer, "Because I can." There was no one who could stand in his way if there was something he wanted. _No one_.

It was a standoff of sheriffs in the middle of a ghost town. Both teenage boys stared with danger dancing in their eyes, challenging the other. Troy's hand slowed down from its excruciating scrubbing of the counter-top in front of him as he weighed his options. He could tell Chad what had really happened. After all, they had been the best of friends since kindergarten. Despite their disagreements and completely contrasting personalities, they had never failed to be there for each other. Troy's other choice would be to lie with everything he had in him. Since he was a particularly horrible liar, he would have to be ready to dodge any of Chad's incessant questions.

_So what was it going to be? _He asked himself, torn between a lie and the truth. He was almost sure that he would not be better off either way.

"Nothing, she finally talked to me again," Troy played it off with a shrug, wondering if Chad could sense the hesitation that lay in his voice.

"When did this happen?" Chad asked casually.

Resuming his cleaning of the counters, Troy decided that it was best if he refused to make any form of eye contact. He knew that would be his only fault when it came to giving himself away.

"Early last night, around eight...I think," Troy supplied the answer, keeping himself from rushing his words to the point that they sounded jumbled and phony. His hand once again paused in their ministrations, cursing himself loudly in his head. What if Chad already knew on some level what had happened? What if Gabriella had told Sharpay that they had been hooking up for the past couple of months and Chad was just waiting to trap him in a lie…

The light ring of the bell that sounded whenever the diner's door opened saved Troy momentarily as both boys diverted their attention from the task at hand to the entrance. "Hey boys!" Annie Bolton called out excitedly, even when flustered by the multiple grocery bags she was attempting to keep in her grasp. Without hesitation, both teenagers rushed to her aid, easily carrying the heavy bags to the storage room behind the kitchen where they would be unloaded later.

Never in his life had Troy been so thankful for the random entrance of his mother. Usually she had the worst timing, interrupting times he had spent with Gabriella, also interrupting the time he had been trying to "talk" to one of his ex-girlfriend's on the phone at the beginning of freshman year. Annie always had the best intentions, though she could never quite convey them properly. Immediately upon entering her diner, she felt the shift in the tension. Choosing to change the subject from whatever it had been before she walked in, Annie turned to her seventeen-year-old son.

"So how was your night?" She asked with interest as the boys followed her from the storage room while she inspected the cleaning that had already been done.

"Fine," Troy answered, deciding to keep it short but this only gained the attention of Chad who eyed him.

Nodding in appreciation for the squeaky-clean booths of the diner, Annie directed her next interrogation at Chad. "Was he with you? Because if he was I wouldn't be so worried about him leaving the house at the crack of dawn..." She laughed lightly though her underlying tone was serious.

Chad's eyes snapped up to meet Troy's whose conveyed just how nervous he was. "Oh...no? The crack of dawn?" Chad tested the waters, knowing that he had won. Troy could never keep the truth from him; he had not been able to since they were five years old. From the beginning of their friendship, Troy could always beat Chad physically, whether it came to a fight or a quick one-on-one basketball game. But when it came to mind games... Chad knew he had it in the bag and for a second, he almost felt insulted that Troy had considered that he could pull one over on him.

"Well, yeah," Annie supplied Chad with the answer that he needed. "I guess Troy thought it would go unnoticed if he left the house around two in the morning."

"I'm here aren't I?" Troy cut in, hoping to shake the conversation off by boiling his mother's blood. He knew he had chosen the right words when her eyes narrowed dangerously. He was preparing himself for an onslaught of _"I was worried"_ and_ "You can't leave whenever you want, you have a curfew"_, but instead it took a turn in the opposite direction- the direction in which he had been trying to avoid.

Chad crossed his arms over his chest in amusement, watching the scene play out in front of him as Troy dug himself into a deeper hole. Sure, he knew that he could have easily bailed out his friend. Annie would not have minded half as much if she thought that her son had been out with his best friend, but now that she knew otherwise, she had the natural curiosity of a mother. And it would not go away until she knew the whole truth. Now it was too late, not only did he not cover for Troy, he was glad that he didn't. He knew from the start that Troy was trying his hardest to cover up a lie and now he would pay for it.

"Where were you then?" Annie asked as her motherly instincts kicked in, her attention mainly focused on the nervousness of her son who couldn't keep his feet from moving or his hands from clasping and unclasping. His involuntary actions only worried her more since she knew the usual body language of her laid-back son. For the most part, Troy's demeanor conveyed his calm attitude and his easygoing ways. Now his eyes were shifting left and right, avoiding looking both her and his friend in the eyes.

"I took a walk," Troy lied horribly, not able to come up with anything better.

"At two in the morning?" Chad chimed in to the conversation, amusement continuing to light up his brown eyes.

Annie's eyes finally widened with the knowledge she thought she had finally stumbled on. "You were with a girl, weren't you!" She stated instead of questioning, her hands clapping together. It was times like this that she loved being a mother, watching the nerves of her son nearly eat him alive. It stunned her that she had not been able to figure it out sooner.

"Mom," Troy groaned, feeling color highlight his cheeks. He was getting angry and more anxious with the seconds that passed, time going by quicker than he could have ever imagined. He wanted to get out of there as quick as he could, escaping from the persisting questions from his mom and the ones that would follow from Chad.

"Ah, I knew it," Annie beamed, proud of herself for deciphering what her son was hiding, something she had never been able to do so fast before. "Who is she? Is it a girlfriend?"

Troy knew that in a way, he was lucky. Most parents that he knew of would be more angry than interested. Annie would most likely punish him later, but for now, she only wished to know who the girl in his life was. "No one."

"Oh come on!" Annie exclaimed, not letting this one slide. She felt that it was her right as a mother to know. "Are you in love with her?" She asked in a teasing tone.

"Mom," Troy warned once again, resisting the desire to take his head and pound it repetitively against the counter.

Chad had already begun pulling off the rubber gloves that encased his hands and tossed them in the trash while he glanced up at the clock, knowing his morning shift was over. Though Troy was being torn up by his mother, his eyes remained on Chad, almost as if they were waiting for his reaction. "Yeah Troy, are you in love with her?" Chad asked, his voice cold, turning the lightness of Annie's questions to stone.

Both Annie and Chad stood waiting for an answer, neither knowing if it would come. Swallowing to aid the lump that had formed in his throat, Troy desperately racked his brain for a safe answer. He wanted to answer calmly with a simple, _"No"_, but he knew that his voice and facial expressions would betray him. He did not wish for his mother to know the truth but he felt like he was obligated on making his feelings apparent to Chad.

Chad. His best friend since kindergarten. Chad, the boy that Troy had grown up with, learned serious life lessons and ventured the neighborhood with. Troy could never put his finger down on the exact moment that caused such a rift in their friendship. The year in which the two boys had turned ten years old, they both seemed to discover girls. Troy had always had feelings for the petite brunette with wild curls who lived in the very same neighborhood while Chad had been interested in nearly every girl. By freshman year of high school, Troy's feelings only became clearer. Chad, who always loved a challenge, became interested as well. But Troy swore that Chad had only wanted her because he wanted her. Now, Troy wanted to curse himself for trusting Chad. He was not a good friend and unreliable in every way. Chad, the boy who was dating the best friend of the girl Troy was in love with. Chad, the boy who could have so easily saved Troy from this predicament instead of throwing him under the bus. There were many times that Troy had questioned the character of Chad but now he knew he no longer had to. Chad could never be trusted.

"Yes, I'm in love with her," Troy answered boldly, his voice never once wavering. Chad's lips formed into a thin smirk, his eyes returning to the clock that hung in the center of the diner.

"Aw!" Annie could not contain her excitement, not noticing the awkward exchange between the two boys. "Well, what are you waiting around here for? Both of your shifts are over, you should be out and enjoying the rest of your Saturday."

Chad didn't have to be told twice. "Alright, see you soon Mrs. B," he waved over his shoulder and quickened his pace as he finally reached the other side of the door. Troy peeled off his gloves, kissed his mother's cheek and then let her know that he'd be home later before he rushed out of the diner in pursuit of Chad.

"Hey! Wait up," Troy called while rounding the corner of the street that the diner was on. Chad turned upon hearing Troy's voice, as if he were waiting to be followed.

"What do you want?" Chad asked, his voice taunting as both boys' strides slowed to a fast-paced walk.

"Her," Troy made it clear that he knew Chad's intentions, his voice firm.

Chad laughed menacingly, his smirk reappearing on his face. "You seem a little scared, almost as if you think she'd pick me over you."

"She'd never."

"Then why were you hiding it? Are you afraid?"

"You have a girlfriend," Troy spat out, not knowing what else he could say.

Shrugging, Chad stopped walking entirely. "So? What does it matter? Are you going to go running your mouth?" Troy remained silent. "Because that would be low," Chad continued, the smirk remaining on his face because he believed he had truly won. He knew that Troy would never go tell his girlfriend; it would go against guy code. "Even for you."

"If you even go as far as touching her-"

"What will you do, Troy?" Chad could barely contain his mocking laughter. "She's not yours."

Unable to keep his fist from clenching, Troy shook his head. "That's where you're wrong. She is, she always has been."

"She doesn't love you."

The words struck him like an iron fist pounding unmercifully into his gut though Troy tried not to let his exterior portray how his feelings had been impacted by such a simple remark. He shook his head, choosing not to speak since he couldn't trust his voice not to break at that moment. Never would he let Chad know that his words had affected him in such a way. Troy kept his head held up high in spite of what he was feeling inside. Before he could even get a hold of himself or his actions, Troy's fist felt the connection with the side of Chad's cheek, barely missing his mouth. The blow caused a sharp pain to his knuckles, the recoil spreading up his arm to his bicep. All that he had inside of him, the suppressed anger that he kept to himself for years and the mistrust were the forces that had driven his fist. Even after the fact, Troy could not keep his fist from clenching, ready for a full-fledged battle if one was in order. Those blue eyes widened like plates in realization of what he had done as blood was spit onto the sidewalk in front of the two boys who had grown up side by side, as brothers.

There was no turning back now, what had been done had become history. Nothing would ever be the same between them again, even if nothing had been quite right with them since the beginning of high school. It had been a downward slope that neither could control.

"I can't believe you'd put pussy before a friend," Chad spat venomously, his eyes darkening a shade.

Troy was barely able to keep his fist to himself, ready to strike again if he needed to. No one would talk about Gabriella that way, he would not allow it. "Say something like that again and-"

"You'll what?" Chad cut him off before he could finish, his tone cynical and teasing. Finally as if reason had struck him along with Troy's fist, Chad shook his head, letting out a dark laugh while he cradled the side of his face in his palm. "You fucked her, didn't you?"

The silence that came along with the question was all Chad needed to understand the truth. "So you make us both agree to never hook up with her and then you go behind my back..."

Troy knew exactly what Chad was referring to. A year prior, Troy had promised not to make a move on Gabriella as long as Chad did not make a move on her. Though Chad liked to get all that he wanted, he would remain true to this promise. Troy did not believe that Gabriella was interested in Chad in any way, but the promise was just a reassurance that helped him sleep better at night. Now, they were empty words that meant nothing. The promise had been broken and now there was nothing that could stand between Chad pursuing what he wanted.

"I didn't think it mattered, you have a girlfriend," Troy defended himself weakly.

"So? It's El Montez we're talking about, she's not just some opportunity I'd pass on for anybody. I passed for you. I could have had her so easily and you know it."

This was something Troy did not agree with but he chose to hold his tongue. He wanted to retort, fight until he proved that he was the one for Gabriella but he knew he couldn't. Chad was still Chad and no matter how much he disagreed with him, he would still be the best friend that he grew up with. There were no words that could make this right. Either way, Troy was damned.

"That's the way it's going to be then?" Chad asked, his mischievous composure returning, the blow to his face was only a minor step back. "You want to play, let's play. She's fair game."

Troy shoved his fists deep in his jean pockets, preventing himself from swinging away. "She's not fair game," He stated firmly. "This isn't a game, Chad. What's done is done."

"You're still afraid, aren't you? You're afraid that I can win."

"Win what? What's the prize? It's not about just screwing her to me."

Chad rolled his eyes, "How was she? I want to know what I'm getting myself in to."

With that, Troy lunged again, only missing Chad completely who had dodged out of the way, having thought about Troy's reaction before making the comment. Chad shook his head once more, making a _"tsking_" noise of disapproval as he did. It was all nothing more than a joke and a competition to him.

"Fuck you, Troy," He said as he began walking down the street backwards so that he could face Troy, not caring if he walked into someone as his steps persisted backwards. His cocky stance said it all; he would not back down. "See you some other time," He called from a distance before turning so that his retreating form was all Troy could see, and never once did he look back.

* * *

><p><strong>JUNE 12, 2010<br>THE MONTEZ HOUSEHOLD,  
>ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO<br>2:30 PM**

The sudden knock on her door alarmed her since she had not been expecting anyone to come by on a Saturday afternoon without calling first. She had awoken to a note on her pillowcase that read, "_I had to leave for work, sorry I couldn't kiss you goodbye_." It was short, sweet, and to the point. She knew she was not just a one-night stand, and not once had she regretted their time together the night before. After reading the scribbled note, she had taken a long shower before lazily getting dressed in her comfiest clothes- a pair of sweatpants and an old t-shirt that belonged to him. She fought a smile from spreading on her face, her steps light as she walked down the stairs, expecting to see his face on the other side of the door. Just as she had her hand wrapped around the door handle, she realized with dissatisfaction that if it was him, he would not have knocked at all.

With curiosity, she pulled open the door, her level of surprise only escalating upon seeing the face of Chad Danforth, looking more broken and miserable that she had ever seen him in her entire life. He wiped at his watering eye while sniffling, not even embarrassed that she was seeing him this way. "Hey," he greeted her first, his voice shaking. "Can I come in?"

She nodded, remaining mute as she held the door open for him, waiting until he made himself comfortable on her couch in the living room. She sat on the far end of the couch, opposite to him, studying his movements.

"I just don't know what to do anymore," Chad finally spoke. "I feel like I have no control over my life."

Gabriella took in his words like a sponge, knowing the exact feeling that he was describing. She usually felt that way, every day that she had to drag herself out of bed. Every day when she had the same routine and nothing to look forward to. But today had been different. She had woken up feeling as though she were floating, that cheesy feeling she had experienced for the first time.

"I think I just need to get away for awhile, you know?" He told her, finally looking up from his folded hands that rested on his lap. "Away from everything...this town, the people. Life."

She could sympathize with him, for he was speaking what was on her mind more than half of the time. If it were any other day, she probably would have eagerly agreed with him, desperate to get out of Albuquerque as soon as she possibly could.

"I tried talking to Troy about it..." Chad exhaled loudly, trying to convince the girl before him that he was being sincere. "He said he doesn't care. He's got his own 'problems' to deal with."

This suddenly got Gabriella's full-undivided attention. Her brown eyes met his watery ones as he offered a beaten up smile. "Problems?" She finally spoke, worry lightly underlying in her tone.

"He wouldn't go into specifics. He was just tired this morning because he didn't sleep well last night," Chad filled in, hoping that Gabriella would be able to make the connections in her own head. "He said that he's tired of dealing with the same train wreck."

"_Train wreck_?" She croaked the words.

Chad shrugged. "I don't know what he was talking about. I thought he meant early shifts at the diner...but I think he was pissed because he was disappointed," He spoke so that his words would not sound rehearsed in any way.

Gabriella tried to search his eyes for the true answers but he had returned his gaze to his lap. "I don't understand..."

"Me neither, who knows what goes on in that kid's head nowadays." Chad sighed as if he cared. "I think he just wants to fuck and that girl that he's been hooking up with...you know that one cheerleader?"

"No?"

"Oh well she's not giving him any," Chad chuckled while shaking his head. "You know how Troy can be."

It was Gabriella's turn to shake her head slowly. "No...I don't know what you mean."

"I don't know. He said he had to find other resources. Whatever that means. He's too busy with his sex life to help out a friend in need." His brown eyes looked up at hers, trying to hide his joy when the look on her face said it all- she was buying it. "Remember when we were all best friends? I'd give anything to go back to the time when we were the most important people to each other and none of this other shit mattered. Who needs random fucks, basketball scholarships, and this shitty town?"

It hit her like a ton of bricks. She was the "_other resources_." Why had she insisted that Troy was so different? He was just a teenage boy, like all other teenage boys who only looked out for themselves. But in the pit of her gut, there was a reminding sensation that it was all lies. That's all life would ever be to her; one lie after the other. Deep down, she knew that Chad was as manipulative as people said he was. She had heard countless stories from Sharpay who never could keep quiet for longer than five minutes. So maybe Troy did care for her as much as he said he did. There was no way that someone could fake the emotion that she saw written in his eyes. Despite her instinct and knowing, in the matter of seconds, she felt herself relapsing into her state of isolation, feeling more alone than ever. But then she looked up at Chad, whose head was downcast, his hands gripping his hair as if he were in pain.

If he was honest, then they were the same, feeling the same pain, both alone with nowhere or no one to turn to who would understand. All they had were each other. And he was entirely right. There was nothing that Gabriella wouldn't give to go back to the times when she was carefree and happy, spending summer nights playing tag with the kids in the neighborhood. The most of her worries were scrapped knees and missed ice-cream trucks. Albuquerque was nothing but an anchor to her. She felt trapped in every way that she possibly could.

Her mouth was formulating the words before she allowed her mind to process them. "Let's skip out."

Chad raised his head, honestly surprised by her compromise. He was hoping that maybe he could gain her sympathy and eventually become that one guy who was the most genuine and understanding of what she was going through. Chad knew just from talking to Troy that Gabriella was complex and it would be a difficult task to try to read her. "…what?"

Her posture straightened out as she invested more confidence in her decision. "Me and you. Let's leave this town."

"I don't know what you mean..." But he knew exactly what she meant.

"I have some emergency cash. We can escape without a worry. We can just be."

Chad allowed his frown to turn upright into a half grin. "Right now?"

Gabriella nodded affirmatively. "Right now. We don't have to ever look back."

The town, the people, the student body of East High would become irrelevant; soon she'd become forgotten. A new place, a new attitude and a changed identity. She was doing this all for herself, selfishly using Chad's ignorance because she knew he'd easily comply to join her journey. She did not wish to be completely alone and Chad Danforth was just the right person to accompany her- someone she felt no feelings towards and saw no future with romantically. Though his motives were obscure, she did not give a damn. This was it, this was her chance. It was hanging in front of her, teasing like bait to a fish. There was no way she was going to let this opportunity pass.

"Alright...I'm in."

* * *

><p><strong>SEPTEMBER 22, 2010<br>EAST HIGH SCHOOL  
>ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO<br>8:10 AM**

Upon arrival, she had expected several events to take place. One of these events consisted of receiving the dirtiest of all looks, scowls plastered on the faces of most girls, old friends and acquaintances who were scattered throughout the hallway. She also expected a massive pile of her old dirty laundry, waiting the same way that she had left it. She did not know why she would think that her unfinished business would simply dissipate while she was gone until it was no longer an issue. Feeling as though she were a freshman again, starting high school all over with a new environment, Gabriella navigated the hallway with her head held high, trying to display the greatest amount of confidence that she could. It was her first day back and she was already late for homeroom, as if she already wasn't making a scene, Darbus would create a broadway musical.

She adjusted her sunglasses that kept people from seeing exactly where she was looking. If the shades had been transparent, her nervous glances switching from left to right would be seen by all and then she really would appear to be crazy. _As if they didn't already think that_.

Gabriella wasn't surprised to have returned home to an empty house, the way she had left it. She did however, find a letter from her mother left on the kitchen table, meaning that some time over the summer Mrs. Montez had decided to check in on her only daughter. _"Gabriella, hope you're doing well. Business is great and the weather is too, in Florida. Nice to see you've kept the house clean for when I come home :)."_ A postcard would have sufficed, Gabriella thought but of course she had no way of telling this to her mother, she rarely answered her phone. Other than that, everything was left the way it had been months before. She assumed that her mother had not ventured past the first floor since her bedroom still looked hazardous while the first floor of the house remained immaculately clean. She was amazed at how easy it was to fall back into step with a life that felt ancient to her.

As she approached the familiar homeroom door, she felt her knees begin to quiver. She didn't have the slightest clue of how she was going to face everyone. Too much time had past where she had put off reality, her cell phone left at home during her own personal summer vacation. When people asked her questions, she knew she wasn't going to have the answers. _And how the hell was she supposed to face those blue eyes…_

In order to pull this off, she needed to put on a brave face. She didn't want anyone to know how much their opinions affected her and most of all, she didn't want him to know how much he meant to her. Or at least how much he had meant. She didn't know where they stood in terms of a relationship. They'd been good friends before they had crossed that line…she was unsure if they could go back to that.

Gabriella would have to be stupid if she thought that there hadn't been tons of rumors that circulated while she was away and she assumed that most were probably negative. She wondered if Troy had allowed his own opinions to be shaped by what he had heard. _Maybe I'm not ready for this, _she thought anxiously.

After smoothing out her dark denim skirt, Gabriella gave a final tug at the black tank top that hung low on her chest, revealing a little too much cleavage for her liking. She figured she had to come back with a bang though, and what better way was there to do it then to go for a complete makeover. Normally, she'd opt with a laidback look; a pair of jeans with an oversized hoodie. Exhaling, she gave her hair a final flip over her back, the straightened locks falling past her shoulder blades. Her hand clasped the doorknob while her other hand removed the sunglasses from her face, pushing them back into her hair as she stepped inside.

"Look who decided to finally join us this year!" Mrs. Darbus exclaimed excitedly, reacting the opposite way that Gabriella had expected. "You had me worried that you had moved or something…I wanted all of the Wildcats to graduate at East High. I got my two students back!" She clapped as she nodded towards Chad Danforth who was sitting in the seat that had been empty for the first few weeks of school. Gabriella offered a weak smile, but her mind was nothing but chaos as she frantically tried to think of something to look at when she turned away from the teacher.

Her eyes betrayed her, although it was inevitable since his seat was located directly behind hers in the homeroom. She'd expected too many things upon returning to East High. Sure, she believed she wasn't ready to face him but she still wanted to see those eyes that had never left her mind, while she was both dreaming and awake. So when she saw two empty desks in her usual row, Gabriella couldn't help but feel a small pang of disappointment in her gut. She felt her heart thump a little too hard, a painful jump against her chest. She had been wrong, she was in no way ready for this. However, she kept walking, her heels clicking on the linoleum floor as she ignored all of the beady eyes that stared at her in astonishment.

There were only two pairs of eyes in the room that were not focused mainly on her. Chad had his desk pulled up close to Sharpay's whose nose was stuck defiantly in the air as if she had smelled something putrid. Gabriella tentatively slid into her usual seat as she pretended to be interested in the morning announcements but she could not hear a word being said. It was as if Principal Matsui had become the teacher in "Charlie Brown". The moment the dismissal bell sounded, Gabriella sprung from her seat as if it were on fire. She could not have left the classroom any quicker.

Clutching the freshly printed class-schedule that she had picked up in the main office that morning, Gabriella scanned the list of classes she'd be taking her senior year to learn what she had first period. Calculus. _Great_, she thought. It was just what she needed when her mind was already unable to stay on one thought for longer than a few seconds.

As she walked in the direction of the math wing of the high school, Gabriella's gaze traveled to the lobby of East High, the big doors never looking more inviting. Even though she wanted to, she knew she couldn't run anymore. She had one more year left to go before she could leave this town for good.

He was bored. Each day started off the same way: he'd wake up twenty minutes too late, sending him in a panicked-frenzy until he got out of his house and into his truck. At red-lights, he'd shove whatever bits of food he had managed to grab in his kitchen before he ran out of the door. With hopes of making it to homeroom on time so that he would not have to hear a long rant regarding his tardiness from Darbus, he'd practically sprint across the parking lot until he reached the school doors. Eventually, he would see Sharpay who would walk with him into homeroom. But this morning was different. The blonde was nowhere to be found so he figured it had something to do with the night before. When the late bell sounded, he cursed in head but shook it off, deciding to skip on homeroom completely.

He hung around the empty locker-pods until homeroom was over. Once the rush of students began to flood the halls, Troy didn't even notice that abnormal silence that fell over the masses. The first thing he noticed were looks of desperation from Sharpay as she walked with a little more stride in her step than usual. He put his head down, pretending that there was actually something interesting to be looking at on the floor, trying not to make direct contact with Sharpay. Wishing that the day would just be over with already, though it had barely even started, Troy let out a small groan as he heard the blonde hiss his name. When he finally chose to look up after hearing his name, he saw _her_. Each day, he'd see the same movie replay in his mind but it was different, she didn't look the same. He'd usually see her in the ways that he remembered her best- dressed in his hoodies with an old pair of jeans.

His head always played messed up tricks on him but today he thought his mind was being beyond cruel; she looked like a goddess. He groaned and put his head back down, waiting for Sharpay to finally catch up so that he could head towards his class and slowly begin to get the school day over and done with.

"Troy!" Sharpay called his name again, her voice even more desperate as she finally caught up to where he stood by the lockers in the crowded hallway. "I've been trying to get signal on my phone all homeroom to text you. What the fuck is going on?"

His eyebrows furrowed together in confusion as the two rounded the hallway. "Did you break a nail, Shar?" He asked, never one to be able to understand the source of her over exaggeration.

"Are you one of the walking dead today or do you really not care?"

His expression turned from confusion to one of infuriation. "Now it's my turn to ask you, what the fuck is going on?"

"Oh…I see what you're doing," Sharpay said, her eyes narrowing as if she were in on a big secret. "I wish I could be like you…act like I don't even care. I always let people get the best of me…"

"No, really. What is going on?" He looked past the swarms of people to where the entrance of his classroom was when he saw her again. Her back was to him, long tan legs with small white heels. He blinked, squeezing his eyes closed in hopes that his mind would stop playing harsh tricks on him. But when they reopened, he still saw the sight, much different than the image of her that he kept forever present in his mind. Long dark curls were straight and a few shades lighter as if the sun had touched it. Her normally tan skin was even darker, making her appear even more like a goddess than she already did. She was wearing the type of clothing that she only wore in his dreams, the type that made it incredibly simple to undress her. Just a quick pull of her tank top over her shoulders and a tug on the skirt and…

"Troy…" Sharpay snapped her fingers in front of his face. "It's going to be alright, you know? Chad's already groveling at an annoying rate but I'm not giving in to him. I'm hoping you do the same to-"

"Gabriella," Troy barely spoke the name, his mind lost in a fantasy. But it was real. She was there. He could almost be knocked over with the sudden onslaught of feelings that he had tried to subside each day. They were a tidal wave of emotions. He wanted to be angry with her, hate her for how pathetic she had made him feel. But he couldn't help but feel the same way he did at their beginning, more naïve and in love than he could handle.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p><strong>APRIL 9, 2010<strong>**  
><strong>**THE BOLTON HOUSEHOLD,****  
><strong>**ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO****  
><strong>**4:45 PM**

"Ma?" Troy called out as he jiggled open the old wooden back door that the family never bothered to lock. He shucked off his dirty sneakers before making his way through the kitchen of the house, his eyes scanning for any movement that would indicate that the house wasn't empty. Gabriella was following close behind, her hand reaching out to grasp his in the darkness. As her fingertips grazed his hand, his own flexed in an automatic response, lacing them together instinctively. "Dad?" He was answered by silence once again.

"Looks like we're alone," She whispered just in case she had been wrong as her grip on his hand tightened.

"Like it even matters," his reply came off as smug, just as he had intended. "They wouldn't care if you were here," he told her as he tugged her hand up the stairs, guiding her to his bedroom.

"They would if they knew…"

He shrugged and locked the door of his bedroom behind them. "But they don't so it really works out for us, right?" He chuckled lightly and dropped her hand momentarily so that he could pull his mud-streaked t-shirt over his head. After tossing it to a laundry-filled corner of his room, he landed on his bed with a plop before his hands began working at the buttons of his jeans, shimmying the dirty article of clothing past his hips until he could kick them off.

She tried not to stare too much at his perfectly sculpted body but found it near impossible. He looked like he had been cut straight out of a magazine and catapulted into her life. The vision in front of her was every teenage girl's dream and she was being rendered speechless as her throat became dry.

His arms crossed behind his head as he sighed in content, the blues of his eyes disappearing as they came to a close. For a moment, Gabriella thought that he had fallen asleep within seconds. She followed his lead, unzipping her dirty jacket and tossing it where he had thrown his shirt. Hesitantly, she worked her soaking wet shorts down her shivering legs before sitting herself down on the edge of his bed where she looked around the room that she'd been in almost as much as she had been in her own. But now, everything her eyes sought out screamed differences to her. She was filled with a new curiosity for the location of each individual object in his room. The pile of socks collected underneath the small basketball hoop that was duct-taped to his closet door made a small smile form on her face, knowing how he spent his free time. There was a small theater-type chair set in front of a television, an empty bag that once contained chips next to it, and an x-box controller lazily tossed onto the chair.

As his breaths became deeper, she turned back to face him. His skin had now dried from the downpour of rain they had received when attempting to play a one-on-one game of basketball at a local park that was about a mile from their neighborhood. He looked more comfortable laying in his bed, clothed in only boxer-briefs, his one hand resting against his chest while the other dangled freely over the edge of the bed. Because of the rain, his normally chestnut colored hair became dark and appeared as though someone had put their hand through it to give a quick ruffle. His ankles brushed against the thin material of the t-shirt she was wearing, making her automatically sit up straighter. She studied his form as she saw goosebumps rise on his arms and a shiver run through his body.

Frowning slightly, Gabriella's eyes darted around the room for a blanket of some sort but quickly realized that his comforter was scrunched together at the very end of the bed. She stood only so that she could pull the soft blanket over his slumbering form until it fell below his neck. After she was satisfied when Troy was warm and under the thick blanket, she deviated from his bed in search for the remote to his television. She clicked on to a random channel, lowering the volume so that it was a soft murmur throughout the room.

"Don't leave, ok?" His voice pulled her back from her mind as his hand encircled her wrist. The blue eyes were now fully open, watching her intently.

"Who said anything about me leaving?"

He ignored her joking smile, responding seriously, "No one, but you're setting my room up the same way you always do before you leave."

"I do not set your room up a certain way," she faked a gasp of surprise, only causing Troy to roll his eyes.

"Yeah you do. First, you make sure I'm all covered up," he said, patting the comforter surrounding him to make his point. "Then you turn on my TV so that when my mom comes home she thinks I fell asleep watching it." He nodded in the general direction of his television that was advertising some kind of blanket that appeared to be a backwards robe. "Then eventually you pick up a few of my things laying around on the floor to make it look semi-presentable."

_Guilty_, her thoughts whispered back. "And sooner or later, you'd pick up your own things and get going."

"Damn, you make it almost sound harsh, like I ditch you," Gabriella said lightheartedly.

"Only 'cause it is harsh," He laughed and sat up straight, his hand immediately reaching for the drawer of his bedside table. What he retrieved was a half-smoked blunt with a lighter to accompany it. He lit the end and allowed himself to inhale deeply before passing it her way.

As she leaned forward to pinch the burning blunt between her thumb, her fingers casually ghosted over his. She brought the tip to bump the edge of parted lips, letting the smoke fill her lungs before she exhaled a stream of grey. Her mocha eyes clouded over and her vision became a blur of lights and sounds; static crackling beside her ear drums and sparks that were blinding. "All I know is…it doesn't get much better than this," she sighed dreamily, gently falling back against the soft blankets on his bed.

He nodded in agreement before smiling with content. "It would be better if you ever decided to share, though," he laughed, the sound a loud vibration that was trapped in his throat. With that serving as his warning, he swooped in to steal the shortened blunt that had become small enough to barely be grasped.

She faked a pout before joining in, her own infectious laughter harmonizing with his. "I'm being for _real_ though."

"I know what you mean," he replied before placing what was left on his night table. "After everything…did you ever think you'd end up here?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing with curiosity.

"Here?" Her eyes searched the bare bedroom ceiling for answers that she knew she would not find there.

He bit his lip for a short moment that felt much too long for Gabriella. He didn't know it but she found him almost impossible to peal her eyes away from when he did things like that. "You know, here," he clarified as if he made complete sense. "Today. This month, this week. With me."

It was her turn to instigate the laughter this time. "With you? Original, Bolton," she rolled her eyes but the dreamy expression set in them only contradicted the movement.

A slight shift of his hips was all it took for his gaze to fall on her body that was lazily sprawled out on his crumbled sheets. She was barely clothed; stripped down to her panties and sporting a Wildcats t-shirt. Her jacket that she had been previously wearing only provided enough coverage to keep her shirt from suffering the onslaught of the heavy rainstorm. His arms lifted to fall across her waist, hovering over her in a way that caged her between his tensed muscles. Gabriella watched with fascination as his jaw twitched in anticipation, his teeth pulling to draw his bottom lip into his mouth once more.

He smirked when he noticed her intake of breath become sharp and rapid. Rubbing small, gentle circles onto the warm skin of her arm, Troy leaned forward with mischief written in the depths of his eyes. "With me," each word was punctuated by the soft touches of his lips to their rightful spot below her earlobe. Two strong hands clutched desperately to her waist, his fingers digging into her sides before he maneuvered a change in position. Both teenagers layed vertical on the cluttered bed, Troy's palm seering Gabriella's flesh through the thin material of her t-shirt. Her knees fell on either side of his hips while Troy worked to slide a hand underneath her shirt to feel the warmth of her skin. The thumb on his other hand grazed the taut skin of her stomach in slow motions, his eyes bulging in satisfaction as they caught sight of her amber eyes closing as she let out a breathy sigh.

"Even if it's wrong," She gulped, hoping her slight insecurity wasn't as obvious as she believed.

With a terse shake of his head, Troy's intentions were final and he clasped the back of her neck, his lips gravitating towards the ones that were parted in a slight pant. Involuntarily, his pelvis grinded against the junction between her thighs as she straddled him, her fingernails digging into his shoulders. "It could never be wrong," he mumbled, his forehead leaning to rest against hers. His intense stare initiated her sharp intake of breath, her eyes connecting with his deep blues. They shot sparks up her spine, the short hairs on the back of her neck rising with the sensation of chills.

Their lips were mere millimeters apart when the crackling of thunder shook them from the hazy spell that they had fallen under. Her eyes rolled in to the back of her head as his frustrated groan broke the silence.

Wordlessly, Gabriella slid off of him, settling down next to the spot he occupied on the bed. Her hand fell beside her, hitting the mattress before seeking his own. Both upheld the silence, not needing to speak any words as he gave her hand a light squeeze. There was another loud and sudden jolt of thunder, causing her to hold his hand even tighter, pulling it against her beating heart. She hated thunder and he was acutely aware of this so he simply watched her; her normally big, brown eyes, closed as if she were wishing it all away. Her breathing matched her quickened heart rate, both jumping abnormally.

"Hey," he whispered, watching as her eyes snapped open at the softly spoken words. Waiting until they made direct contact with his, Troy pulled on her hand, never once desisting until she was close enough to him so that he could wrap her up in his embrace. "It will pass," he informed her with certainty.

She nodded against his shoulder, her eyes squeezing shut again. It wasn't until a few hours later that she woke up to the sound of soft snores. His face was tucked beside her neck as his chin rested against her shoulder. The light pitter-patter of rain against his bedroom windows was enough to let her know that the storm had in fact passed, just as he said it would. Straining her neck, Gabriella tried to read the time displayed on his alarm clock with little movement in order to not wake him. It was eight o'clock on a Friday night which only meant that if Mrs. Bolton was home, she would soon be checking on her son to see if he had any plans for the evening.

Letting out a long-winded sigh, Gabriella wished that she never had to move another muscle again. She could just stay there in his bed for hours on end, watching through the window as the sky changed from dark to light- her only indication that time was passing. In a perfect world, there would no worries, just the bed that she currently resided in, wrapped in the warm arms of Troy. As if he could listen in on her thoughts, Troy began to shift in his sleep, his arms snaking lower around her waist, his hands spreading out on her abdomen. Gabriella's hand moved to where his head fell on her shoulder, her fingers threading through his hair before massaging his scalp. She smirked as she heard his gentle groan that sounded as he nuzzled his face into her neck.

"Troy…" she said his name softly, her fingertips continuing to rotate in small circles on his scalp, increasing the pressure in hopes of waking him.

"No," he responded shortly, the words spoken against her skin.

"No?"

He nodded, his lips coming in contact with the skin along her jaw line, "I'm not getting up." With that, his grip on her tightened as he drew her further into his embrace, her back pressed against his bare chest.

She tried to ignore the fact that his hands had crept even lower and that she was still only wearing underwear and a t-shirt. But it became impossible to ignore as his thumbs swept over the skin just above her panty-line with determination. "Troy?" her asked almost breathlessly, her eyes closed while his lips continued to kiss along her neck.

"Hmm?"

"Don't 'hmm' me," she laughed to cover up her nerves as his thumb hooked around the thin material, giving a tug. He acted as if he wasn't doing anything at all and wasn't aware of her heightened breathing that had come along with the rush of nervousness.

He smiled against her neck, his eyes finally opening for the first time since he had woke up. "What?" he asked innocently. Troy's act was far from believable as he rid her of the garment completely, leaving Gabriella half-naked in his bed, her cheeks a bright red that he could feel- heated skin against his lips. However, he made no advancement, his thumbs returning to where they were when she still had her panties on, silently letting her know that he wouldn't do anything without her consent.

Gabriella's mind was spinning at a rate that she could not keep up with. The two teenagers had begun casually hooking up a little over a month ago. Never had they spoken of labeling what they had but neither of them were seeing anyone else. So far, they had shared kisses and cuddles like they had in the past few hours but never had she been in his presence lacking underwear. Though a blanket kept her covered her from below her shoulders, she still felt completely exposed. Plus, Troy had never blatantly touched her south of her waist with the intent that he had now. She could feel what he had in mind just by the shortened breaths by her ear and sharp and chaste kisses on her neck and shoulder. He was studying her, looking for any indication that would lead him to know what was going through her head.

"You know your mom could walk in any minute?" She was the first to speak, her voice barely a whisper.

His eyes were taunting though she could not see it. "So?"

"So?" Gabriella's voice was incredulous. There was nothing in the world that could mortify her more than either of Troy's parents walking in on them in a compromising position.

She felt him shrug against her. "Yeah…it's not like we're doing anything." If Gabriella were to turn around she would have seen the wolfish and toothy grin that highlighted his features. "Unless you want to be."

The suggestion was apparent in his tone and in the way his fingertips continued their journey south where they had been. "You're smooth, Bolton." She attempted to joke but she knew her cheeks were permanently fixed on a dark shade of red. He was igniting her entire body with sensations that she could feel on her fingertips. At the rate he was going, she didn't think she'd be able to keep any form of self-control, even with the fear of being caught lurking in the back of her mind.

Laughing against the skin of her shoulder, Troy let his teeth scrape her flesh, her short gasp urging him to continue. "I can show you how smooth I can be."

Craning her neck, Gabriella made sure that he could see the roll of her eyes. "Really, Troy? How might you go about doing that?" she tested the waters even though she knew that she was playing with fire.

"I'm going to make you feel…" his voice trailed off, a gentle murmur against her skin where small teeth marks had indented. His mouth closed over the point of impact, attempting to leave his mark on her, subconsciously claiming her as his own. The joking banter completely faded from his tone as he brought his lips by her ear, breathing hotly. "…how amazing you make me feel. Every morning when I wake up. Every time I see your face," his finished his sentence, punctuating each word by sweeping his fingers closer to where he wanted them the most.

"Troy…"

"Hear you laugh. Hear you say my name," he continued, stilling only when he felt her tense completely in his arms, his thumb brazenly pressing against her sensitive bundle of nerves. "Or every time I get to touch you…" his voice was husky as his thumb began to mimic the way she had previously massaged his scalp, rotating in small circles.

Her throat was swelling only the way it did before she cried causing her to instantly snap her eyes shut. "Troy," she spoke his name again but this time with pain laced through it, going unnoticed to Troy who misread the pain as pleasure.

"I want you to feel it, Gabriella," he whispered, his index finger gently exploring her folds before he began to probe lightly at her entrance.

There wasn't an exact moment that she could look back on and remember how she had become the person she was. It had taken years for her to construct a wall, blocking herself from the harsh realities of her every day life. She'd grown to be immune to the pain and hardships and instead of wearing a heart on her sleeve, she kept it locked away, behind that wall. It physically hurt her as she felt Troy work to take it down, even if he did so unknowingly. He chipped away at it every time he smiled, every time she even let her mind wander to a thought of him. It was an emotional rush, something that was too much for her to handle all at once.

But nevertheless, she felt it, just as he wanted her to. Her back arched into his, providing him with a response he needed to keep going. His fingers curled inside of her, caressing all the right places while his thumb continued to tease her clit. "Too much," she managed to gasp but she had said it quietly, almost as if she didn't believe her own words.

His lips worked to mark her, his fingers making her go numb as she was trapped in his strong arms, writhing through the pain until the feeling became something else. A moan escaped past her semi-parted lips, her eyes still shut as she felt a pressure well up below her abdomen. Desperately, her arm wrapped around his neck, grabbing at his hair instinctively as her body began to thrash in a way that she could not control. His fingers slowed to a standstill but his thumb was relentless, making sure that she reached her peek.

"Troy?" Mrs. Bolton's voice rang throughout the house, calling her only son's name from somewhere on the first floor.

"Fuck," Troy muttered, the moment completely ruined by his interrupting mother. His hands retracted from Gabriella within seconds before he jumped from the bed as if it were infested with bugs. Grabbing the first pair of pants he could find, Troy dressed in a panicked rush as he threw clothes in Gabriella's general direction. A few seconds passed before Gabriella could process all that was happening, her mind a whirlwind of emotions as she lay on his bed paralyzed. Shakily, she got redressed in her wet clothes, waiting for Troy's signal to leave the bedroom where neither wanted to be found by his mother.

She followed his lead down the staircase, trying to look as innocent as she possibly could.

"Gabriella!" Annie Bolton exclaimed when she finally saw who her son's secret guest was. "Are you staying for dinner?"

"Um," she stammered, stealing a side-glance at Troy.

"She was just talking about how she was tired…" Troy filled in for her, trying to keep his voice casual.

"Oh?" Annie Bolton resumed cutting small pieces of vegetables from behind the kitchen counter. "Well there's always plenty of food if you wanted Troy to bring you over some later. I was thinking of making a soup..this weather is miserable."

Troy's eyes rolled back into his head as he looked up at the ceiling. His mom was never one to know when she had spoken enough. "Yeah I could bring her over some later," he said with hopes of his mother letting them leave without another word.

"Well what have you been up to?" she asked, not as if she was interrogating them but rather in a completely curious manner.

"Mom," Troy groaned.

"I wasn't asking you," her amusement shined in her eyes as she directed her attention to the silent Gabriella.

"Oh um we tried to get in a game of basketball but then it started to rain so we came back here to watch a movie," she lied, the sentence all coming out in one single breath. Annie thought nothing of it, though, and continued her chopping with a smile still beaming on her face.

"Can I ask you something?"

Gabriella swallowed nervously, knowing that either way, Annie would ask whatever was on her mind. "Yeah, sure." Troy's breathing paused momentarily as he deviated his attention everywhere but to his mother.

"Why would you even want to play him in basketball? He'd either be showing off by beating you or being all cheesy and flirty by letting you win," Annie laughed lightly at herself and was happy to see the blush highlighting both teenager's cheeks.

"We're going to go now," Troy ended the awkward conversation as he placed his hand on Gabriella's lower back and began to lead her towards the front door.

"I'm sending soup over for you later, Gabriella!" Annie called as Troy shut the door behind them, cutting her off from saying anything else.

The short walk to Gabriella's house was quick and deathly silent. Neither had the right words to say and if they thought that they did, they didn't know how to say what they wanted to. Both knew that they had taken a big step together and had come a long way. Everything had started off as innocent, minor hand holding here and there until it led into kissing. From there, the two fed off the energy of the other in order to see how far it would go. Gabriella was too wrapped up in her own mind to notice that the pair had stopped at the foot of her driveway.

"So…" Troy scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Do you really want me to bring soup over later?" He chuckled lightly, using humor to disguise his discomfort.

She laughed with him, "I'll text you if I get hungry."

"Alright," he offered his arms out to welcome her to a short-lived hug before she pulled away from him. _She always pulled away first_. "See you around," he offered and began to turn in the direction that they had come from.

"Troy, wait," her voice was soft and defeated. "I think we should talk about…what happened."

"What about it?" He asked in confusion, not even attempting to play dumb as he usually would.

"This thing we have. I don't understand…"

"What?" he tried to cover up his concern, wishing that he wouldn't be seeing the ending of something that had not even started yet.

"It's not real, is it?" Gabriella only noticed her poor choice of words after seeing the look of hurt that covered his face. "I mean, what are we doing?"

He shrugged, "Spending time together?"

"And that's it, though, right?"

"Yes," he agreed, even though he knew that deep down he would always want something more. But if having her in his life this way was all she would allow him, he was perfectly fine with it.

Gabriella's eyes searched the sky, avoiding looking into the eyes that would make her weak and surrender herself to him completely. "That's all it can be." _Because that's all I can handle_, her thoughts finished the sentence.

"If that's what you want."

"It is-"

"So nothing more?" He asked, making sure he understood what she was saying.

She nodded. "If either of us can't handle that, we can't make whatever this is work. Promise me that if you feel anything, you'll end it," Gabriella spoke slowly with dictation. He'd never heard her more positive of anything and though he nodded along dumbly, he couldn't help but wonder _why_. But Troy knew he would never deny her of what she asked him.

"How about we kiss on it?" He joked, trying to lighten the mood which only earned him a light slap on his bicep.

"I'll see you around, Troy," she used his words, a small smile on her face as she made her way towards her door.

He watched as she disappeared and turned on his heels, the same goofy grin beginning to make a permanent home on his face. Shaking his head to himself, he sighed, knowing that it'd always be more than he could handle and less than what he truly wanted from her. He was naïve and in love, not even thinking for a moment that this could end badly.

_"You were wrong. I just hope that you aren't alone."_


End file.
